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The helicopter was departing from a rooftop helipad, and the flight instructor noticed that, during the initial climb, as the helicopter crossed over the rooftop edge, the low rotor rpm horn and light activated. The helicopter then began to descend. The flight instructor lowered the collective and attempted twice to increase the throttle, but his actions did not stop the descent. Subsequently, he performed an autorotation to a street below the helipad and landed hard, resulting in substantial damage to the tail rotor and tailboom.

The commercial helicopter pilot had completed 25 to 30 water drops in a fire zone using a firefighting bucket on suspension cables. After refueling, he completed three or four additional drops and then filled and pulled the bucket from the water and immediately felt "a severely out of CG [center of gravity] condition to the right." He assumed that the bucket cables were entangled in the right landing skid, so he released the water from the bucket. The condition persisted, so he rocked the helicopter to attempt to free the cable without success. He then released the cable with the cargo release button and heard the "clunk" sound typically heard when the bucket was released, but then he heard another "clunk." The helicopter then began to spin violently and crashed into the water.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot's failure to maintain rotor rpm during a practice autorotation, which resulted in ground contact and a dynamic rollover.

On May 2, 2018, about 1000 central standard time, a Robinson R-22 Mariner helicopter, N923SM, was substantially damaged during a forced landing to water near Panama City, Florida. The commercial pilot received minor injuries. The flight was operated in accordance with Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a positioning flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight that departed Perry-Foley Airport (40J), Perry, Florida at 0830, and was destined for Destin Executive Airport (DTS), Destin, Florida.

On January 24, 2018, about 1700 eastern standard time, a Schweizer 269C-1, N3947C, operated by Pelican Flight Training LLC., was substantially damaged during an autorotation after takeoff from the Downtown Fort Lauderdale Heliport (DT1), Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured. The flight was operated in accordance with Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight that was destined for North Perry Airport (HWO), Hollywood, Florida.

On December 15, 2017, about 0650 eastern standard time, a Sikorsky S76A, N911FK, operated by Global Sky Air Charter Corporation, was substantially damaged by an engine compartment fire after landing near Islamorada, Florida. The airline transport pilot was not injured. The flight was operated in accordance with Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 as an on-demand air medical flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a company visual flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight that departed The Florida Keys Marathon International Airport (MTH), Marathon, Florida at 0637.